


something's bound to change

by ednae



Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: Cooking, M/M, RyuuSou Week, bless his heart honestly, this fic is a WHOLE disaster because sougo is a WHOLE disaster
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-07-23 22:52:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16168451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ednae/pseuds/ednae
Summary: Sougo invites Ryuu over on their day off. It’s absolutelynota date.





	something's bound to change

**Author's Note:**

> i was only able to crank out one thing for ryuusou week but please rest assured, ryuusou is always present in my heart and i love it more than iori loves ~~cute things~~ stationary

The kitchen is filled with a sweet aroma when Tamaki enters, his nose scrunched up as he sniffs.

“Are those cookies?” he asks, leaning over Sougo’s shoulder to get a better look.

Sougo ignores him as he pulls the pan from the oven, gingerly setting it on the stovetop. “Yes, they are.”

“Sweet!” Tamaki reaches out toward the tray with his bare hands like some kind of animal, but Sougo slaps them away.

“They’re not for you!” he scolds, pushing Tamaki out of the way as forcefully as he can. Tamaki gives in to the shoving, but not without loud, wordless whining to show his true feelings on the matter.

“Not even one? Stingy…” he groans. Sougo finally lets go of him, but he continues to block the way back into the kitchen with conspicuously spread legs and hands on his hips. The oven mitts still cover his hands and he feels like a middle-aged mother scolding her child.

“Go,” he commands, pointing out of the kitchen. Not that Tamaki can see his finger through the mitt, but he’s pretty sure the tone in his voice is scary enough to make him listen. “Please.”

Tamaki smirks knowingly, though Sougo can’t for the life of him figure out what it is he knows. “What? Are they for your _boyfriend?”_

“My—?” Sougo chokes. “He’s not—! Get out of here!”

Tamaki cackles, clutching his belly as he _finally_ leaves the kitchen and disappears down the hall. Crisis averted. For now.

Sougo falls back against the counter and wipes the oven mitt across his forehead. There’s no reason for him to feel this nervous, except there’s every reason to feel this nervous. Ryuu’s coming over today, and that means he _has_ to leave a good impression. If not, he’ll die. Tragic.

It doesn’t help that Tamaki seems to know about his crush on Ryuu, since that means he’ll have to expend more energy into keeping the little gremlin as far away from them as possible. This date—well, not exactly a date—has to be perfect.

The cookies are still steaming on the stovetop, wisps of heat rising higher and higher until they disperse and raising the temperature of the kitchen to an unbearable degree. It only adds to the warmth on his cheeks from Tamaki’s comments.

“He has to stay out of this,” Sougo concludes, marching back to the stove with renewed conviction. He’ll send Tamaki on a pudding run—with his money, if need be. It’s a sure-fire way to get him out of the house, and Sougo’s willing to go to any length to make that happen.

He removes the oven mitts from his hands and opens a cabinet, grabbing a platter from the selection. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s the best option to go with his relatively plain cookies. He’s… certainly no five-star chef, or anything of the sort. But the cookies are made with love, and he desperately hopes that the taste will convey that. At the very least, he hopes they’ll be edible.

One by one, he arranges the cookies in a spiraling pattern, circling outward from the center of the platter. The display looks nice enough to serve Ryuu, and he finds himself relaxing the longer he works.

The tea is still in the kettle, not quite steeped, and so Sougo takes this time to call out to Tamaki and set his plan in motion.

“Tamaki-kun, do you want to go get some King Pudding?” he yells, leaning out of the kitchen as far as he can without losing his balance.

It doesn’t take but a few seconds to hear feet pounding back down the hallway, and before he can even register it, Tamaki is standing in front of him, panting heavily.

“Really?” he asks, clamping his hands around Sougo’s shoulders tightly. “You’re _asking_ if I want King Pudding?”

Sougo smiles as gently as he can manage, even though he’d rather grimace against the pain of Tamaki’s fingers digging into his skin. “Well, we’re running low, so I thought you might want to go stock up.”

Tamaki blinks, and then his eyes narrow. “Is this a trap?”

“A—a trap?” he asks, shaking his head wildly. “Of course not! We really are running low on pudding, and I know how much of a fuss you make when you can’t eat any…”

Then Sougo is being enveloped in a bone-crushing hug, squeezed tightly against Tamaki’s chest. “I really thought you were a bad person, Sou-chan, but I was wrong! Maybe you really _are_ good! You’re still scary, but that’s okay!”

Scary? Just what does Tamaki think of him…?

Tamaki releases Sougo, finally letting him gasp for the breath that had been pushed from his lungs. “I’m gonna go right now! Can I use your card?”

“It’s on the table,” Sougo wheezes, pointing feebly in the general direction of the front door. His other hand is pressed against his chest as he struggles to catch his breath, but he reminds himself that this is just something he has to deal with in order to get Tamaki out of here before Ryuu arrives.

“Okay! Thanks for letting me know! Bye!” Tamaki calls, and then the front door slams shut, leaving Sougo in a peaceful silence.

_Finally._

With that, Sougo gathers himself and sucks in a deep breath. “What time is it…?” he mutters as he fumbles for his phone, digging it out of his pocket to check the time. Nearly four o’clock. Perfect timing.

He has about ten minutes to get ready and make sure he’s presentable for Ryuu. There’s not much prep work left: set the table, serve the tea, put on clothes that aren’t covered in flour. He can do that in ten minutes.

The cookies jostle a little on the tray as Sougo picks them off the counter to bring them into the living room. Even in his rush, though, they maintain the perfect spiraling shape he’d arranged them in. So he sets it on the coffee table and dashes out of the room toward the bedroom to throw on the nicer clothes he’d picked out earlier, the ones Tamaki had dubbed his “date clothes.”

Which is ridiculous, by the way. This certainly isn’t a date, since he’s not dating Ryuu. What he’d _like_ it to be is far different from what it actually is.

He’s buttoning the last button of his soft lavender shirt when he hears a knock on his door. His heart rate spikes and he rushes to smooth out his hair and tuck in his shirt so he at least looks _presentable,_ and then he kicks his dirty clothes off to the side of his room so they can’t be seen from the hallway. Then slowly—far, far too slowly for his liking, but he can’t make it seem like he’s rushing because then he’d look desperate—he makes his way to the door to greet Ryuu.

The door swings open and Sougo is once again stricken by how utterly _beautiful_ Ryuu is, from his naturally attractive face to his toned body to his silky hair, pulled back in a tiny clip to show off tiny studs in one ear. Everything about him is entrancing, and Sougo can’t find words for a few long, nerve-wracking moments.

“Hey there,” Ryuu finally says, breaking the awkward silence between them with a gentle smile that stops Sougo’s heart and unleashes a thousand butterflies in his stomach.

“Hi,” Sougo says, forgetting what he’s supposed to do and how he’s supposed to act. His feet are glued to the floor, and he can’t stop staring.

“Can I… come in?” Ryuu asks, gesturing toward the inside of the dorm.

“Right! Yes!” Thankfully, that sparks something inside Sougo and suddenly he’s able to move his body in accordance with his thoughts. He nearly leaps to the side and sweeps his hand out in front of him, letting Ryuu step inside. Sougo closes the door behind him, silently berating himself for not being better at this.

“You cleaned up,” Ryuu observes, rocking back and forth on his feet. “It looks nice.”

“Huh? N–no, I just put some stuff away,” Sougo counters, vividly recalling the hours he spent scrubbing each speck of dust off of every surface in the dorm. He laughs awkwardly, shoving the memory out of his mind and continuing with his lie. “Everyone else is just messy, so I had to pick up after them.”

“Well it looks… clean,” Ryuu says, coughing into his hand. Sougo _thinks_ his cheeks are pink, but he can’t tell over Ryuu’s large hands.

He wonders what it would feel like to hold them.

“Oh!” Sougo exclaims, suddenly remembering where he is and what he’s spent several hours of his day planning. “I, uh, made tea and cookies for you.”

Ryuu’s eyes sparkle with an excitement that reminds him of a small child. “Cookies?”

“I hope you like them,” Sougo says, just a little too softly for Ryuu to hear. Which is just fine with him, since saying it any louder would have been too embarrassing. He clears his throat and gestures toward the living room. “You can go sit down. I’ll grab the tea.”

Ryuu shuffles off with an awkward chuckle and a short nod, and then Sougo rushes into the kitchen to grab the tea from the stove. He can feel the comforting warmth that rises off the kettle, and it has him envisioning all the ways this not-a-date can go. He doesn’t want to get too eager, but if all goes well, then maybe, he thinks, he could get comfortable enough to invite him out again.

He grabs two tea cups from the cupboard and places them on another tray, identical to the one holding the cookies, and then sets the kettle in the middle. With a deep breath, he hoists the tray up and carries it out into the living room where Ryuu is already sitting on the couch. The cookies remain untouched.

“You didn’t try them?” Sougo says, unable to keep the pout out of his voice. He just hopes Ryuu doesn’t hear it.

“I was waiting for you,” he assures with a smile that melts Sougo’s heart.

“O–oh, all right,” Sougo says, stumbling over the last few steps it takes before he’s kneeling down to place the tray on the coffee table.

“I like the music,” Ryuu comments, his smile twisting and his eyes shining with humor. Sougo nearly falls over trying to stand back up. “Is this TRIGGER’s second album?”

“Yeah! I just thought, uh—” Sougo cuts himself off by coughing into his hand. “It was already playing while I was baking, and since it’s my favorite album I thought…”

Ryuu laughs. “You don’t have to explain yourself.”

“Sorry,” Sougo apologizes, hoping his own smile doesn’t reflect the panic pounding in his heart. “Well, um, please enjoy yourself.” He gestures to the cookies.

“Is this the only reason you called me over today?” Ryuu asks, quirking his eyebrow.

“No!” He waves his hands in front of him, as if to banish that thought from existence. “I just wanted to, you know, catch up. We’ve both been busy lately, and since this is our day off…”

“Oh, I get it!” Ryuu beams and nods, his hair bouncing with the motion. Then he pauses and looks around. “Then where is everyone else?”

“They—they couldn’t make it!” Sougo insists, recalling the hours of begging he had to do to get the rest of IDOLiSH7 to leave the dorm unoccupied for the day. He shoves that, too, out of his mind and returns to the present. “They wanted to spend time with you, too, but they already had plans for their vacation day.”

Ryuu hums and nods, absentmindedly reaching for a cookie. “That makes sense. They have their own lives, after all.”

“Right!” Sougo nods once, firmly. “So it’s just… you and me…” He trails off with a weak chuckle that edges too close to a high-pitched giggle.

“Just you and me,” Ryuu confirms, and maybe Sougo is just imagining it, but he doesn’t sound displeased with that prospect.

It causes him to relax just a little more, enough to reach out and take his own cookie from the tray. “Let’s eat!” he says, biting into it and humming, satisfied with how they came out. He’d been worried, since he’s certainly not a great baker like Iori or Mitsuki, but this time his hard work paid off.

“Let’s eat.” Ryuu peers at his fluffy chocolate cookie, narrowing his eyes as if trying to discern what flavor it is. But he gives up soon enough and shoves half of it into his mouth, biting down hard. Sougo watches the whole thing with fervent intent, not willing to miss any detail.

Ryuu freezes.

His jaw drops and his eyes widen. His mouth is just barely kept closed from sheer willpower. Tiny tears spring into his eyes.

Then slowly, as if the motion is causing him pain, he chews the cookie and swallows exaggeratedly, finishing it off with a loud cough.

“Are you okay?” Sougo asks, leaning in and putting his hands up, stopping himself from grabbing onto Ryuu at the very last second.

Ryuu coughs a few more times, pounding his fist against his chest, and when he looks at Sougo his eyes are watery and desperate. “Are—” His voice is raspy and weak. “Are these _spicy_ cookies?”

Sougo’s eyebrows knit together. “They’re not _that_ spicy, are they?”

“What’s in this…?” Ryuu asks, breathing long and deep to air out his mouth.

Sougo’s nose scrunches up as he thinks. “Cocoa powder, vanilla extract, chocolate chips, cayenne pepper, and some hot sauce for a little kick. Why? Do you not like it?”

Ryuu clears his throat and shakes his head vigorously. “No, no! I’m—they’re very good. I was just. Surprised, is all.”

Good! He said they’re good!

Sougo has to fight the flush that rises to his cheeks, and he tries to bite back his smile but fails miserably. “I’m glad you like them!” he gushes, clenching and unclenching his fists because he doesn’t know whether he’s legally allowed to hug Ryuu or not. But the urge is strong, and so he eventually settles on resting his hand on his back, hoping the gesture can convey his relief and appreciation for the compliment.

Ryuu nods in response and rests his own hand on Sougo’s, patting it a few times over his shoulder. “They’re definitely unique.”

“Then do you want another?” Sougo asks, reaching forward for another cookie. Ryuu’s hand shoots out and clasps his fingers around Sougo’s hand, squeezing tightly and effectively stopping him. Sougo looks up, brow furrowed and biting his lip.

“The, uh, cookies can wait,” Ryuu says, his smile wavering just slightly. “Instead we could, could just talk! You know, spend time together. I’ve been looking forward to seeing you all week, after all.”

Heat springs to Sougo’s cheeks, but he can’t turn away. “Oh, is that so…?” he says, trailing off when his throat closes up and his heart leaps in his chest. He has to firmly remind himself that this is _not_ a date, that they’re just acquaintances and occasional business partners and rivals in the music industry. It’s nothing more than that. Ryuu isn’t interested in dating someone like him, not when he’s the Ero Ero Beast and can have any girl in Japan.

Ryuu nods and squeezes Sougo’s hand, gently moving it so it’s resting in his lap. “Yeah, I was really glad you invited me on a date!”

Sougo’s brain stops working.

“Eh?”

He sees Ryuu’s eyes widen, but he can’t comprehend what it means. “W–was it not a date?”

Slowly, the gears start moving again, but he still can’t understand exactly what’s going on. “What…”

Ryuu drops Sougo’s hand like it burnt him. “I’m so sorry, Sougo-kun. I just thought—”

“Wait!” Finally, _finally,_ his brain catches up to speed. “It was! It was definitely a date! I like you, Tsunashi-san!”

Ryuu’s face goes blank. His shoulders slump like they can no longer carry the burden of his head. “You…?”

Sougo recoils too quickly, realizing that maybe his mind had jumped ahead a little far in its attempt to catch up. But it’s too late to take it back now. “Um… I was a little embarrassed to admit it, though…” Sougo reaches up with his hand—cold, now that Ryuu has let go—and scratches his nose.

“Oh, well.” Ryuu clears his throat. “I’m glad.”

Sougo’s head spins and he feels lighter than air. He wonders if that’s a sign of some fatal disease or if his feelings are just that intense.

When he collects his bearings, he finds that Ryuu has been staring at him this whole time. “Tsunashi-san, what are you looking at?”

“You,” he says simply, leaning in a little more. Sougo thinks he’s going to faint. Maybe it really is a fatal disease.

“What—?”

Ryuu reaches out and cups his face, pulling him closer. Sougo’s mind overworks itself to the point of shutting down. This is really happening, he thinks. He’s going to kiss him.

And then a finger swipes across Sougo’s cheek bone and Ryuu pulls away, leaving Sougo suspended in air, teetering unsteadily on a wire. “You had some flour on your cheek,” Ryuu says, his eyes crinkling as he smiles. “I got it for you!” He raises his thumb in the air to show a small patch of white powder covering it.

Sougo starts to nod, but each movement has him wobbling more and more until he can no longer take it and he falls from the tightrope, right into Ryuu’s shoulder.

“Sougo-kun?!” Ryuu exclaims, jerking with surprise.

The front door opens. “I’m back!”

“Ta—Tamaki-kun?” Ryuu shouts, placing his hands on Sougo’s shoulders and pushing him away quickly, but gently. Sougo springs into action at the name, an intense panic welling up inside him. “I thought you were gone for the day!”

Tamaki shuffles out of his shoes and makes his way toward the living room. “I just went to buy King Pudding. What are you guys do—” He cuts off when he sees Sougo leaning into Ryuu’s arms, just barely held away with firm hands clenched around his shoulders, the cookies and tea untouched.

“Tamaki-kun, please listen!” Sougo begs, shrugging out of Ryuu’s grip.

“I don’t wanna hear it,” Tamaki insists, shaking his head so forcefully that his hair whips in his face.

“Then at least, please don’t tell anyone about this,” Sougo says, his blush fiercely evident on his cheeks. Ryuu chuckles behind him, and he turns around to see the same pink on his cheeks, even if he tries to hide it with a smile.

Tamaki crosses his arms. “It’ll cost you.”

Sougo wishes he had something sharp. Anything would do, really.

“What is it?” Ryuu responds instead.

“I want those cookies,” he says, pointing at the tray.

Ryuu laughs. “Yeah, go ahead. They’re all yours.”

“Nice! Thanks, Ryuu-aniki!” Tamaki lunges for the tray and gathers it up in his arms before waddling away toward his room. The door slams shut a few moments later, and the entire dorm falls into silence.

Sougo stares after him for longer than necessary, if only to avoid looking back at Ryuu. “That… could have gone better.”

“At least it was a memorable first date,” he confirms.

Sougo buries his head into his hands. “I’m so sorry. This was supposed to turn out differently.”

“I’m not complaining.”

“Then…” Sougo sucks in a centering breath and gathers his courage. “If you’re not too busy on Friday, would you like to go on another?”

Ryuu nods. “It’s a date.”

Down the hall, Tamaki’s muffled shout rings out. “Ugh! These suck!”

Sougo’s shoulders slump and he turns to Ryuu for some kind of comfort. When he speaks, his voice cracks. “Were they _really_ that spicy?”


End file.
